Coronavirus updates: confirmed cases around the world pass 600,000

Finland Authorities have restricted movement out of Uusimaa, the region encompassing the capital, Helsinki, to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Restrictions came into force at midnight and are due to remain in force until 19 April, Yle Uutiset reports. They prevent people from entering or leaving Uusimaa, except to work, return home or care for a vulnerable person.

The Finnish parliament unanimously approved the measures on Friday night.

13m ago10:29

Feeling brave? Scientists at Oxford University are recruiting volunteers to take part in the UK’s first coronavirus vaccine trial.

Hannah Devlin

✔@hannahdev

For anyone who lives in Oxford and is feeling brave: the first UK vaccine trial is now recruiting, expected to begin within weeks https://covid19vaccinetrial.co.uk/

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5:36 PM – Mar 27, 2020

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15m ago10:28

Police enforcing the coronavirus lockdown in South Africa fired rubber bullets at shoppers queuing outside a supermarket in Johannesburg, according to an Agence France-Presse photographer.

The agency said about 10 police vehicles had arrived in Yeoville, a poor part of the city’s central business district, where several hundred people who had gathered outside a Shoprite supermarket were failing to observe physical distancing rules.

A policeman points a gun to disperse a crowd of shoppers in Yeoville, Johannesburg.

<img class="gu-image" src="//i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c240201ed65a111f9669549c770f2b8d9f7c900e/8_586_5017_3010/master/5017.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=649bc46f835a4b49d729ec440077d983" alt="Police arrived at the Shoprite supermarket after shoppers failed to observe social distancing rules introduced in South Africa this week">

Police arrived at the Shoprite supermarket after shoppers failed to observe physical distancing rules introduced in South Africa this week.

Startled shoppers trampled on each other and a woman with a baby on her back fell to the ground, the report said. Police later used whips to get the shoppers into line.

South Africa, which has 1,170 confirmed coronavirus cases, recorded its first death from the virus on Friday.

The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has ordered the population of 57 million to stay at home for 21 days, and has deployed the security forces to enforce the lockdown.

33m ago10:09

The number of people on Jersey confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus has reached 52, and one person is confirmed to have died.

There are 83 tests still pending and 601 people have tested negative, according to an update the island’s government published on Facebook on Friday evening.

43m ago09:59

For readers more interested in the latest coronavirus news from the UK, my colleague Lucy Campbell has just published our UK-focused live blog. That means I will only be taking the top UK news lines for this blog, which from now on will focus on global developments.

1h ago09:45

Health officials in the Philippines reported 14 new coronavirus deaths and 272 new cases on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The numbers reported represent the country’s largest daily increase in deaths and infections since the outbreak began .

The total number of confirmed infections in the Philippines is now 1,075, of whom 68 have died, the health ministry said. Four patients have recovered, bringing the number of recoveries to 35.

In a sign of the wider impact of the crisis now enveloping the world, wildlife rescue centres around the world are struggling to treat endangered species, Gloria Dickie reports.

As the coronavirus spreads from country to country, disrupting global travel and the economy, the centres are struggling to make ends meet. The Centre for Orangutan Protection in Kalimantan in Indonesia’s section of Borneo has temporarily shut down to minimise the spread of the virus.

Others such as Merazonia in Ecuador rely on tourism dollars to care for their animals. Since China’s shutdown of Wuhan in January, visitor numbers have also plummeted at Asia’s wildlife centres.

Derbyshire police in the north of England made headlines this week after using a drone to shame dog walkers who had driven into the Peak District National park during the lockdown.

Now, the Guardian’s north of England editor Helen Pidd reports, police officers have been pouring black dye into a reservoir near Buxton known locally as “the blue lagoon” to make it less appealing to swimmers.

The Buxton Safer Neighbourhoods Team wrote in a Facebook past that it taken the measure after receiving reports people were congregating there:

No doubt this is due to the picturesque location and the lovely weather (for once!) in Buxton.

However, the location is dangerous and this type of gathering is in contravention of the current instruction of the UK government.

With this in mind, we have attended the location this morning and used water dye to make the water look less appealing.

This is a regular tactic that we use to reduce ASB and we work in partnership with HPBC and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service. However, as things stand, it has never been so important to discourage these types of gatherings.

Derbyshire police have been pouring black dye into a reservoir near Buxton to discourage people from going there

2h ago09:04

Confirmed Covid-19 infections pass 600,000

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world has now passed 600,000, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. With many countries, including the UK, now only testing the most serious cases, however, the true extent of infections is likely to be much greater.

According to the university’s interactive map, 601,478 people had been confirmed as infected with Covid-19, and 27,862 deaths attributed to the disease. At least 131,826 people have recovered after falling ill.

The US has the highest number of confirmed infections with 104,837, followed by Italy with 86,498 and China with 81,948.

2h ago08:46

The lockdown implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus is disrupting UK government plans to recruit 20,000 new police officers – a key manifesto pledge of the Conservative party at the December election.

Assessment centres have been hit by sweeping closures of premises, PA Media reports. Katy Bourne, the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), who also serves as PCC for Sussex told the agency:

We began a big recruitment drive and along comes this virus. We don’t want to stop that recruitment. The national call has a lot of officers who are in the pipeline who have been through the assessment centres and are still waiting to come out to forces and so on.

The assessment centres nationally where you expect people to turn up to classrooms, obviously those can’t function because we are all isolated, we have got to stay at home.

So, it’s keeping those officers warm or those potential officers warm in the system.

It’s really how do forces deal with the numbers that they have got.

Bourne also said it was critical that police officers get the equipment they need to stay safe during the pandemic.

The personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a big issue nationally. The police are out and about in the country they need protection.

I know from Sussex’s point of view they have managed to secure some. I know some police forces in other areas of the country have really struggled.

The supplies are there but it’s getting it out to those forces.

2h ago08:45

After a week in which France’s government has come under increasing criticism for perceived lack of transparency, the prime minister, Édouard Philippe, and the health minister, Olivier Véran, are holding a press conference on Saturday to outline the situation in detail and answer questions, Kim Willsher reports from Paris.

We will have the usual announcement of the daily update figures early evening.

The controversial hospital professor Didier Raoult from Marseille released new research late on Friday on 80 patients conducted over six to 10 days, which apparently shows that hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin is effective in treating Covid-19 patients.

Let’s begin with the latest from the UK. In Wales, teachers have been urged to keep schools open for NHS staff and carers during the two-week Easter holidays, PA Media reports.

The education minister, Kirsty Williams, who described school workers as national heroes for keeping more than 700 schools open during the coronavirus epidemic, said:

It takes a community to raise a child and that statement has never been more true. In this time of national need, our school community has stepped up and met the challenge.

More than 700 schools have stayed open to look after the children of NHS staff, carers, people who are saving lives. I am now asking you to do more and keep schools open during what would have been school holidays.

It has never been more important for our children and young people to be surrounded by the people they know and trust.

I am asking you to be flexible, and to offer up some time during the Easter period to continue to support both vulnerable children and the families of our critical workers.

Williams also confirmed that the families of children who get free school meals would continue to be assisted during the break. She said:

Wales has a strong tradition of supporting communities and I can confirm that the funding announced last week to support children in receipt of free school meals can be used to carry on providing free school meals over the Easter holiday.

This will allow local authorities to continue with their local arrangements while we establish a national scheme to support children in receipt of free school meals.

In devising a national scheme I will ensure that local authorities will still be able to maintain their own approaches, should they want to do so.

They will have the discretion to opt into a national scheme or continue to provide flexible support if that is their preference, such as direct payments or deliveries to families who are unable to leave their homes, due to isolation requirements.

I believe this will be a sustainable approach, that will enable families to budget and plan their spend according to their needs.

Hello everybody, this is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog from London. As usual I will be bringing you the latest coronavirus updates from our network of correspondents around the world, from the news wires and anywhere else I can find it.

And as usual I will need the help of the Guardian’s global readership. Please send any coronavirus news from your part of the world to me at [email protected] or via a direct message to my Twitter profile, @damiengayle. Let me know what we’re missing.

Summary

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan on this Saturday in what I can’t believe is still March. It’s been a long month.

I leave you now with my colleague Damien Gayle. I’ll be moving to a different room to watch an entire continent isolate itself from incoming flights. And who said self isolation wasn’t fun?

Here are the latest key coronavirus pandemic developments from around the world:

US cases passed 100,000. Doctors and nurses on the front lines of the US coronavirus crisis pleaded on Friday for more protective gear and equipment to treat waves of patients expected to overwhelm hospitals as the number of known US infections surpassed 100,000, with more than 1,600 dead.

The ratings agency Fitch has cut Britain’s sovereign debt rating to AA-, saying debt levels will jump as the government ramps up its spending to offset the near shutdown of the economy in the face of coronavirus.

Italy overtook China to become the second-worst affected country after the US. Italy also recorded the highest daily rise in deaths anywhere since the outbreak began, with 969 fatalities.

Chinese authorities reverse planned re-openings of movie theatres. China’s official media also told people to stay on guard against the coronavirus on Saturday, and restrictions on foreigners entering went into effect, as the country reported no new locally transmitted infections and a small drop in imported cases.

Australia stepped up enforcement of social distancing rules on Saturday. In an attempt to contain community transmission of the novel coronavirus, states across the country implemented fines, closed beaches and threatened stricter measures if people defy pleas to stay at home.

More than 100 Australian doctors and dentists returned to Australia after being stranded on a cruise ship off the coast of Chile.

Moody’s downgraded South Africa’s sovereign credit rating to “junk” status on Friday, heaping more pain on an economy already in recession and now staring down the barrel of a steep contraction over the global coronavirus pandemic.

A global shortage of condoms is looming. The world’s biggest producer or condoms warned of a global shortage after a coronavirus lockdown forced it to shut down production.

Iranian doctors say ‘hundreds’ have died after ingesting toxic methanol. An Iranian doctor said hundreds have died and thousands have been sickened from ingesting toxic methanol across the Islamic Republic out of the false belief it kills the new coronavirus.

Passengers on cruise ship stranded off Panama coast issue desperate plea. Passengers on a cruise ship stranded off the coast of Panama issued a desperate plea to be allowed to dock after four people died during a Covid-19 outbreak on board.

Argentina saw a record jump in cases. Despite the full national lockdown declared on March 20, the country reached 690 cases and 17 deaths so far, with 101 new cases and five deaths reported Friday. The capital city of Buenos Aires is the worst hit, with 223 cases, followed by the province of Buenos Aires with 193.

South Korea reports highest new cases in a week. South Korea reported 146 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest number in a week, its disease control agency said on Saturday, with the country suffering a rise in imported cases from Europe and the United States during recent days.

Lockdowns around the world bring rise in domestic violence. Women and children who live with domestic violence have no escape from their abusers during quarantine, and from Brazil to Germany, Italy to China, activists and survivors say they are already seeing an alarming rise in abuse.

3h ago08:06

The NHS could have prevented “chaos and panic” had the system not been left “wholly unprepared for this pandemic”, the editor of a British medical journal has said.

Numerous warnings were issued but these were not heeded, Richard Horton wrote in The Lancet. He cited an example from his journal on 20 January, pointing to a global epidemic: “Preparedness plans should be readied for deployment at short notice, including securing supply chains of pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment, hospital supplies and the necessary human resources to deal with the consequences of a global outbreak of this magnitude.”

Dr Horton wrote that the government’s Contain-Delay-Mitigate-Research plan had failed. “It failed, in part, because ministers didn’t follow WHO’s advice to ‘test, test, test’ every suspected case. They didn’t isolate and quarantine. They didn’t contact trace.

“These basic principles of public health and infectious disease control were ignored, for reasons that remain opaque.

“The result has been chaos and panic across the NHS.”

Dr Horton’s warning came as the UK saw its biggest day-on-day rise in deaths since the Covid-19 outbreak began, while Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock said they had tested positive for the virus and frontline testing of NHS workers was set to begin.

3h ago08:03

Fitch cuts UK credit rating to AA-

The ratings agency Fitch has cut Britain’s sovereign debt rating to AA-, saying debt levels will jump as the government ramps up its spending to offset the near shutdown of the economy in the face of coronavirus.

Fitch downgraded the country by one notch to the same level as its rating for Belgium and the Czech Republic. It said a further cut could follow as it kept the rating on negative outlook.

“The downgrade reflects a significant weakening of the UK’s public finances caused by the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak and a fiscal loosening stance that was instigated before the scale of the crisis became apparent,” Fitch said. “The downgrade also reflects the deep near-term damage to the UK economy caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the lingering uncertainty regarding the post-Brexit UK-EU trade relationship.”

Fitch said the coronavirus shutdown was likely to shrink Britain’s economy by nearly 4% in 2020, assuming the drastic containment measures could be relaxed in the second half of the year, leading to a 3% bounce in growth in 2021. But doubts about Britain’s future trading ties with the European Union posed a further risk, Fitch said.

The US has become the first country to exceed 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as Donald Trump signed into law the largest economic stimulus package in US history, a $2.2tn bill designed to rush federal assistance to workers and businesses.

The number of confirmed US cases rose by 15,000 on Friday, fewer than the 16,000 reported on Thursday. By Friday night there were more than 6,000 hospitalised Covid-19 patients in New York with almost 1,600 in intensive care while the state had logged 519 deaths, the most in the US, and more than 44,000 infections.

Hospitals in New York City, New Orleans, Detroit and other virus hotspots have sounded the alarm about scarcities of drugs, medical supplies and trained staff.

In California a navy hospital ship, the Mercy, has docked at the Port of Los Angeles to provide 1,000 beds and full medical facilities – freeing up hospitals on land for seriously ill coronavirus patients, as the state braces for an outbreak potentially on New York’s scale.

The president on Friday invoked a national security law compelling General Motors (GM) to mass produce ventilators – accompanied by barbs that the carmaker had not been acting quickly enough. Some saw it as partly an act of spite amid Trump’s continuing feud with the company – GM said it had already been working around the clock for more than a week to help build more ventilators.

Italy became the second country to overtake China in terms of the number of infections, reaching more than 86,000 cases. Its latest 969 deaths represent the highest national one-day figure anywhere since the outbreak began, seemingly dashing hopes that Italy might be flattening its rate of infection.

3h ago07:43

The US Navy is the military service hit hardest by the coronavirus, as it scrambles to contain its first at-sea outbreak, with at least two dozen infected aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of 11 active aircraft carriers whose mission is central to the Pentagon’s strategy for deterring war with China and Iran.

US Navy sailors raise a larne target from the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Philippine Sea 21 March, 2020. Photograph: Us Navy

The Roosevelt and its contingent of warplanes may be sidelined for days, sitting pier side in Guam as the entire crew more than 5,000 is tested, Reuters reports.

Navy leaders say the carrier could return to duty at any time if required, but the sudden setback is seen as a harbinger of more trouble to come.

The carrier, like other Navy ships, is vulnerable to infectious disease spread given its close quarters. The massive ship is more than 1,000 feet long; sailors are spread out across a labyrinth of decks linked by steep ladder-like stairs and narrow corridors.

Enlisted sailors and officers have separate living quarters, but they routinely grab their food from crowded buffet lines and eat at tables joined end-to-end.

Although the US Navy is much smaller than the US Army, it accounts for at least one-third of all reported Covid-19 cases in the military. None has been reported among Navy submarine crews, which are widely deployed and include subs armed with long-range nuclear missiles on constant patrol.

3h ago07:38

The US embassy in Riyadh said on Saturday it was working with the Saudi authorities to arrange repatriation flights to the United States on a commercial airline.

“No flights or departure/arrival locations have been confirmed at this time,” it said in a statement.

“It is likely that flights will be scheduled with little advance notice.”

Meanwhile a video shared on Twitter claims to shows a father crying after coming home to his son. The doctor is heard saying “No, no,” in Arabic as his son rushes to greet him.

There are 1,104 reported cases in the country, and three deaths.

Mike

✔@Doranimated

A Saudi doctor returns home from the hospital, tells his son to keep his distance, then breaks down from the strain.